


Mourning

by anotetofollow



Series: Illustrated Fanfic Commissions [11]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Post-Citadel Attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-28 22:32:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12617008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotetofollow/pseuds/anotetofollow
Summary: Kasumi comforts Consort Sha'ira after Cerberus attacks the citadel.Illustrated fanfic commission, with art by tumblr user @noctuaalba!Commissioned by tumblr user @matriarch-aethya - thank you so much!





	Mourning

Sha’ira stared at the blank screen in front of her. The cursor blinked at the start of the empty page, each time a small accusation. She would need to write something, soon. Anything at all.

This was her job. Her vocation. Words of comfort, ways of soothing a troubled mind or easing a heavy heart. She had made a life from this work, shepherding people through their sadness and lifting their grief. Why it would be so difficult this time, she did not know.

“Hey.” The voice was so familiar that Sha’ira didn’t jump, though she had thought herself alone in the villa. She could never tell that Kasumi was there until the thief was right behind her. She had grown used to it.

Sha’ira looked up from her console, rubbing at her screen-weary eyes. “Good evening. I was not expecting you to visit.”

“Do you ever?” Kasumi’s lips quirked into a smile, but there was something strained about it. She was worried.

“I thought you and Shepard would be busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack,” Sha’ira said.

“We are,” Kasumi admitted. “But I won’t be missed for one evening. I... heard about what happened.”

Sha’ira’s back stiffened. She had not thought it would be common knowledge yet - though, she supposed, Kasumi’s knowledge was anything but common. Her villa had been attacked, and almost breached, by Cerberus agents. Many of her friends and acolytes had sacrificed themselves to keep it safe. To keep  _ her _ safe.

“I’m sorry,” Kasumi said when Sha’ira did not respond. “I guess you probably don’t want to talk about it yet.”

Sha’ira shook her head. “No. It’s fine. It’s hard to know what there is to say under the circumstances. One does not think to prepare for such things.” She shifted along the couch a little, leaving a space beside her.

Kasumi took the unspoken invitation and sat down next to the Consort. “What are you writing?”

“Messages,” Shai’ra said. “Many of my people still had family on Thessia. I would rather they heard the news from me than on some vid. There were people with cameras outside before C-Sec had even left, if you can believe-” Her voice broke on the last word, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, mortified.

“Sha’ira,” Kasumi said, putting her arm around the asari’s shoulders. “It’s okay. We’re all in shock. You’re allowed to let it out.”

“No, I’m not,” Sha’ira said, her voice harsh in her throat. “I am supposed to be a touchstone. A port in a storm. People will be depending on me after this. They will want me to ease their minds, to- to-” she choked a little. “Goddess. This is my life, Kasumi. Hundreds of years I’ve spent knowing the right thing to say, calling up the perfect words whenever I needed them. Why is this so difficult?”

“Because you’re a person, Sha’ira,” Kasumi said. “A person telling families that their loved ones aren’t coming home. Frankly I’d be worried if you found this  _ easy _ .”

“You don’t understand,” Sha’ira snapped, regretting her petty words as soon as she had said them.

Kasumi shrugged it off. “Probably not. I don’t have the experience of millenia. But if this war has taught me one thing, it’s that people are basically the same in a crisis. They break down. Then they rebuild. They find strength in themselves they didn’t know was there.”

“Look at that.” Sha’ira managed a smile. “You seem to have learned a thing or two from me. No Consort could have said it better.”

“Listen,” Kasumi said, turning the console away from them. “This can wait an hour. You’re not ready to do this yet. Not when you haven’t even let  _ yourself _ grieve.”

“My grief is not important.”

“Of course it is. Trust me, those families will feel better if they know you’re grieving too. This isn’t the time for that… benevolent detachment thing you’re so good at.”

Sha’ira looked down at her lap. “You think I’m detached.”

“I think you have to be, doing what you do.” Kasumi pulled her closer. “But I don’t think you are with me. Not all the time, anyway.”

“Listen to me,” Sha’ira said, resting her head on Kasumi’s shoulder. “I haven’t even asked how you are. You were in the thick of the battle.”

“I’m doing just fine. Shepard and the rest made it out okay, though how they managed it I’ll never know.” She hesitated before speaking again. “We lost someone, though. An old friend. He died trying to take down one of the Illusive Man’s agents.”

“I am truly sorry, Kasumi.” Sha’ira sat up and took the thief’s hands in hers. “It is a proud thing, to lose your life trying to save others.” The empathy she felt for Kasumi washed over her like a great wave; it brought with it her own grief, a reminder of the loss that she had suffered. Suddenly she understood what she needed to say to the families of her acolytes. The knowledge came to her perfectly and completely.

“See?” Kasumi smiled. “I knew you’d get there. It just takes a little time.”

“Thank you.” Sha’ira squeezed her hands warmly, then turned the console back towards her. “I think I am ready to do this now.”

“Do you want me to go?”

Sha’ira did not need to think about that. “No. I would prefer it if you stayed. If that is alright with you.”

“Of course. Do you need anything? A drink?”

“Tea would be lovely,” she said. “One of the acolytes will be able to-”

“I’ll do it,” Kasumi said. “Better to keep busy.”

Kasumi fixed tea for them both while Sha’ira wrote her messages, keeping a respectful distance while the Consort composed her words. When the last one was sent Sha’ira turned off her console, closing her eyes for a moment as she centred herself.

“I am glad that is done,” she said as Kasumi came to sit beside her again. “It is a burden lifted.”

“Is there anything else you need to do tonight?”

Sha’ira shook her head. “I have postponed all my client meetings for several days. I believe most of them were grateful for it.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Kasumi asked quietly.

Shai’ra regarded her for a moment, then leaned in to kiss her. “Yes. I would like that.”


End file.
